Thursday, July 19, 2007

Eggplant Parmigiana

One day I decided to get over the dislike of eggplant I had as a child. And I wanted eggplant parm. I'm not sure if this is really how you make it...but it's good, and it works for me! Remember, I don't really measure things unless it's a "real recipe" so these things are all. Um. Approximate.

1 purple eggplant, about 3/4 lb-1 lb (if you have other types of eggplant from the garden or whatever, you can use those too. If they're small you just might need more.)
2 eggs
milk
Some white flour
Some wheat flour
Bread crumbs
Wheat germ
Oregano, basil, and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
About 1 1/2 jars of marinara or tomato & basil pasta sauce
Shredded mozz
Feta

Preheat oven to 350. Slice the eggplant into thin slices about 1/8 " thick. Spray some Pam (poor lady! Here she is again!) on the bottom and sides of a 9x13 Pyrex dish. Pour a light layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish and spread with a spoon. In one bowl, use a fork to beat the eggs and milk together. In another bowl, make a mixture of the flours, bread crumbs, wheat germ, parm, and spices. I couldn't tell you amounts at all but believe me you'll know when it LOOKS right. It should be...tan. A little heavier on the parm, germ, and crumbs than the flours. Heat about 1 1/2 T of olive oil in a saute pan over medium. Dip each eggplant piece in the egg mixture, then coat each side in the flour mixture. Fry eggplant pieces in oil, flipping once, until each side is golden brown. Arrange eggplant pieces in bottom of pyrex dish. Pour a thin layer of sauce over pieces, spread with spoon. Lightly sprinkle feta and parmesan cheese over sauce; you may add a very thin amount of mozz as well. Again saute more pieces of eggplant, arrange over first layer. Spread more sauce over the pieces. Sprinkle more feta, a larger amount of mozz, and some parm over the sauce. Place in oven and cook approximately 45 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and bubbly.

I'm thinking this would be pretty good if you incorporated some garden-fresh herbs like basil and oregano.

1 comment:

Mee-ha said...

LOL I was just about to post a recipe for eggplant parm. Pretty much exactly the same one. Hee.